Chapter 509: Party A's Request
"Everyone here is an expert in the field of firearms. I don't think I need to explain the benefits of center-fire ammunition in detail."
There was no need for Liang Yao to introduce the benefits of center-fire ammunition in detail to these experts.
The gunsmiths whispered to each other, commented on this ammunition, and praised it.
At the same time, the gunsmiths of the Sacramento Arsenal were also deeply ashamed that such an epoch-making ammunition was not developed by their arsenal with the strongest technical strength in California, but was the product of a small and unknown company.
Sartre's main attention was not on the bullet, but on the title of this bidding meeting. The theme of this bidding meeting was a bidding meeting for new rifles and machine guns using center-fire ammunition.
In other words, Liang Yao was going to bid for two weapons, one was a new rifle using center-fire ammunition, and the other was an unheard-of machine gun.
Rifles are easy to say, everyone is familiar with them, and the Sacramento Arsenal also has rich experience in manufacturing rifles. To develop a rifle that uses center-fire bullets, for a large factory like the Sacramento Arsenal, there is not too high a technical threshold, as long as they are willing to invest in research and development, they can produce products.
It’s just that the Volcano Rock Continuous Weapons Company participated in the bidding and disrupted the situation. This time, the pressure on the Sacramento Arsenal is greater than before. 庅
They must not only come up with products that meet the requirements, but also come up with products that are better than the Volcano Rock Continuous Weapons Company to win the bid.
As for the machine gun, this unprecedented continuous-fire weapon, Sartre has no clue at present. What is a machine gun? He only vaguely knows that this is a rapid-fire weapon with a faster firing rate than a lever gun.
Not only Sartre has no clue, but the gunsmiths present, including the gunsmiths of the Volcano Rock Continuous Weapons Company that have just developed a new lever gun, have no clue.
But at the moment, Sartre's biggest concern is not this, but if the Sacramento Arsenal wins the bid for the new rifle, what should be done with the arsenal's existing Walter M1851 rifle production line?
These production lines are worth a lot of money, not to mention that the performance of the Walter M1851 rifle is still at the leading level in the world.
In this case, Sartre believes that there is no need to launch a new project.
"I don't know what a machine gun is, but I know what a rifle is, and the performance of the Walter rifle is not outdated at present." Sartre stood up and spoke first.
"If we rashly launch a new project, let alone the risk of success or failure, if the development is successful, how should the Walter rifle production line be handled?
It took us five years to reduce the cost of the Walter rifle to a unit price of $14 per rifle. If we continue to lower the unit price, we will soon be able to get an order from the Army.
Missing the entire Army's order will be a huge loss for the arsenal."
"We can't stop the research and development of new weapons just because the Walter rifle is not outdated at present." Liang Yao wrote and drew on the drawings, saying without raising his head.
"The Walter rifle was undoubtedly excellent in its first two years. But with the entry of the British P53 rifle and the improvement of the Dreiser needle-fired rifle by the Prussian Dresser Arsenal, our technological advantage has become smaller and smaller.
We need a weapon with better performance.
As for the existing Walter rifle production line, we have many options. We can choose to keep it or sell it to France or the Qing Dynasty.
The French and Qing armies are currently equipped with a large number of Walter M1851E (Walter rifle export version) rifles, and they are very satisfied with the performance of the Walter rifle. If we want to get rid of the production line, it is not a big problem."
During the Crimean War, the French army was dissatisfied with the performance of domestic active weapons, so they ordered 150,000 export models of Walter rifles from the Sacramento Arsenal.
Needless to say, in order to meet the needs of the Guangdong Army, the Sacramento Arsenal also set up an ammunition factory in Xiangshan to produce ammunition for the Guangdong Army.
Moreover, the Qing army is not only equipped with the Walter rifle, but also the Hunan Army has purchased the Walter rifle.
Liang Shaoqiong was suppressed by the court and was unemployed at home. He even sold this weapon to the Taiping Army, using the Taiping Army to suppress the Hunan Army.
"We can improve on the existing weapons, so that the cost is lower and the production line can be retained. Isn't that how the Springfield Arsenal came about?" Sutter wanted to struggle.
"Director Sutter, these issues are not the focus today. Our focus today is the parameter requirements of the new weapons, not how to deal with the production line of old weapons." Liang Yao was already a little impatient. 庅
"The center-fire bullet has been launched, and the potential of the Walter rifle has been exhausted. There is no need for improvement."
If the center-fire bullet is not successfully developed, Liang Yao can accept the plan to improve the Walter rifle.
But now the center-fire bullet has been launched. Moreover, the fundamental purpose of Liang Yao's order to develop new weapons is to eliminate the side needle bullets with congenital defects, not the Walter rifle.
Seeing Liang Yao's tone becoming somewhat impatient, Sartre knew that he could not win the argument with Liang Yao, so he stopped talking.
While talking, Liang Yao drew a sketch of the Gatling hand-cranked machine gun on the drawing, and handed the sketch to Zeiss, asking Zeiss to copy the sketch on the blackboard for reference by the gun designers present, so as to understand the concept and operating principle of the machine gun.
In terms of developing machine guns, Liang Yao had two jobs to copy, one was the Gatling gun, and the other was the Maxim machine gun.
Liang Yao is a pragmatic person. After much deliberation, he chose the Gatling gun instead of the Maxim machine gun.庅
If you compare the hand-operated Gatling gun and the Maxim machine gun, there is no doubt that the design concept of the Maxim machine gun is more advanced.
It's just that compared to the Gatling gun, the Maxim machine gun requires a higher level of technology and a more complex manufacturing process, mainly because its working principle is different from the Gatling gun.
The working principle of the Gatling gun is to use the principle of recoil. The primer ignites the salt of the bullet to generate exhaust gas to push the gun barrel backward, thereby achieving the effect of cyclic shooting.
The Maxim machine gun uses the principle of air pressure. The air pressure inside the barrel pushes the cartridge case out of the barrel, thereby achieving cyclic shooting.
This working principle requires a higher level of craftsmanship and higher requirements for the air tightness of mechanical components to ensure that the air pressure in the barrel is strong enough. In addition, the parts of the Maxim machine gun are more complex, requiring higher precision and technical levels to create a machine gun with high accuracy and excellent reliability.
Not to mention the current precision machining industry in California, I am afraid that even the precision machining industry in the UK may not be able to meet the requirements for mass production of Maxim machine guns at this time.
The gunsmiths at the Sacramento Arsenal and the Volcanic Stone Repeating Arms Company did not have high expectations for Liang Yao's sketch.庅
Liang Yao is an expert in leading troops, and few people can match him in business skills, but they don’t think Liang Yao is capable in the highly professional field of firearms design. What an achievement.
Except for Walter and Nobel, laymen did not understand Liang Yao's talent in invention, but Walter understood it very well.
Among other things, two great inventions, the pedal sewing machine and the bicycle, which are popular all over the country and sold overseas, were both made by Liang Yao.
As a general with rich experience in actual combat, it is not surprising that Liang Yao has some attainments and understanding in firearms.
He was full of expectations for Liang Yao's drawing.
Nobel is also looking forward to Liang Yao's design sketches. Although the center round bullet was jointly developed by him and Walter, the inspiration came from Liang Yao.
They just followed the drawings provided by Liang Yao, solved the problems with details and materials, and developed the center-fire bullet.庅
The first name on the patent for the central bullet is Liang Yao.
After Zeiss completed the drawing of the machine gun on the blackboard, only one and a half of the people present understood what a machine gun was.
One is Walter, a genius in the invention world, and his expression is very exciting.
The other half was Winchester from the Volcanic Stone Repeating Weapons Company. Winchester asked for a drawing and carefully copied the sketch on the blackboard.
Other firearms designers were scratching their heads and thinking hard at the sketches on the blackboard.
Seeing that most people did not understand the essence and principles of machine guns, Liang Yao once wondered whether his drawing ability was too poor.
He asked for a small stone grinder and a small bag of wheat so that these people could quickly understand the working principle of this machine gun.庅
"Everyone, my inspiration came from the stone mill." Liang Yao walked up to the stage, grabbed the handle of the stone mill with his right hand, and grabbed a handful of wheat with his left hand.
"Look, everyone, let's say I'm holding the machine gun's crank in my right hand and the center-fire bullet in my left hand."
As he spoke, Liang Yao slowly poured the wheat in his left hand into the hole of the stone mill, and at the same time turned the handle to grind the wheat into powder.
Liang Yao's vivid metaphor made these firearms designers react quickly.
Winchester raised his forehead as if suddenly enlightened: "I understand, rifles are like before the invention of stone mills, people used grinding rods made of stone and wood to grind flour, and machine guns use stone mills to grind flour!
What a genius idea! In this way, just like a stone mill can continuously grind more flour, a machine gun can continuously project more bullets! "
"I have improved the water turbine! This is essentially the same operating principle as the water turbine!" a gunsmith said very excitedly.庅
"If a machine gun could be developed, one machine gun would be worth a platoon! Or even a company!" Sartre's eyes also lit up.
"My God, how many soldiers would be out of work if this invention came out!"
Liang Yao sneered at Sartre's statement. History has proven that the invention of the machine gun did not make many soldiers unemployed.
Humanity has just changed to a more efficient war model and continues to kill each other, making war more cruel and making human life more fragile and cheap.
"It's good that you understand."
Seeing that the gunsmiths had already understood the basic principles of machine guns, Liang Yao felt relieved, and then he put forward the parameter requirements for new rifles and machine guns: "The parameter requirements for new rifles using medium-loading ammunition are as follows:
Ammunition: Must use medium round rounds.
Caliber: 50 inches or less.
Barrel length: must not exceed 850 mm.
The total length of the gun: shall not exceed 1400 mm.
Weight: must not exceed 4 kg.
Magazine Capacity: Single-shot reload and above.
Effective range: must exceed 400 meters.庅
Bore: Must contain 4, right-hand, deeply grooved rifling.
Method of Firing: A reliable manual firing pin ignition system must be used.
Sights: Must include a fixed front sight and an adjustable rear sight to facilitate accurate shooting.
Cost: In principle, the unit price shall not exceed US$20.
The machine gun parameter requirements are as follows:
Caliber: less than 50 inches.
Barrel length: less than 900 mm.
Total weight including the gun frame: less than 30 kg.
Gun body length: less than 1200 mm.
Bullet type: Must use center-fire bullets.
Loading method: Manual, loading by turning the barrel through the crank, or more convenient loading method.
Rate of fire: Up to 300 rounds per minute.
Range: Effective range is more than 500 meters, and the maximum range must exceed 2000 meters.
Cost: The unit price shall not exceed US$1000. ”庅
After the meeting, both the representatives of Sacramento Arsenal and Volcano Repeating Weapons Company had a worried look on their faces.
The requirements for the new rifles and machine guns proposed by Liang Yao were very demanding, and neither company was completely sure that they could come up with products that met Liang Yao's requirements.
Such demanding parameter requirements made Sartre once doubt whether his worry that the Walter rifle production line would be eliminated was redundant.
However, compared with Sacramento Arsenal, Volcano Repeating Weapons Company had a bigger headache.
The Sacramento Arsenal was wealthy, and when Sacramento Arsenal manufactured the Walter rifle, it had already accumulated rich experience in rifle development and digested the technology of Dreiser's needle-fired gun.
The new rifle requires a reliable manual firing pin ignition system in terms of shooting. This one is almost tailor-made for Sacramento Arsenal.
Volcano Repeating Weapons Company does not have the technology in this area.庅
"Chairman Connie, our Volcano Repeating Weapons Company is not as wealthy as the Sacramento Arsenal. If we do both projects, I'm afraid it will be difficult to win the bid in the end. "Winchester looked at the sketch he had just copied at the meeting.
"My idea coincides with yours." Connie nodded, and he deeply agreed with Winchester's point of view.
"In the new rifle project, we have no advantage, and the possibility of winning the bid is very small. I also advocate giving up the bid for the rifle project directly.
Invest limited funds and manpower and material resources in the development of machine guns. Machine guns are a brand-new weapon. Sacramento Arsenal has not manufactured similar weapons before.
In this project, we and Sacramento Arsenal are on the same starting line. "
Connie advocates giving up the bid for the new rifle directly and focusing on the machine gun project. Only in this way can Volcano Rock Rapid-Fire Weapons Company win the bid.
"Heroes think alike." Winchester smiled, "This project was proposed by General Liang himself. As long as we can develop a machine gun that meets the requirements, there will be no shortage of subsequent orders. "庅